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On the one hand, protection from solar heat gain is necessary if a building is to be naturally ventilated. On the other hand, shading devices should not block out daylight if that’s the major source of illumination in the offices. In the case of Norddeutsche Landesbank, adjustable, highly reflective aluminum sun blinds within the double-glazed units allow reflected light into the interior while blocking solar radiation.

Transsolar also took advantage of the earth’s natural thermostat and incorporated a geothermal heat exchanger and pump. The use of radiant-slab cooling was particularly ingenious. Polyethylene pipes were cast in the exposed-concrete ceiling slabs. Cold water (about 62 degrees Fahrenheit) is pumped through the pipes, generally at night, storing coolness in the concrete surface for delivery to the room in the morning.

It is clear that climate engineering in Germany has evolved way beyond its counterpart in the United States, and yet none of these strategies is rocket science. The time has come for American architects and engineers to seek alternatives to their high-voltage formulas and begin to work unplugged.